The Nia Promise
I came across this in our Nia forum and I thought it was intriguing – the Nia Promise. The Nia Promise is what a student will get in a Nia Routine: A body-mind-emotion-spirit experience Opportunities for self expression and play The Seven Cycles Three intensity levels The Five Sensations of Conditioning An integration of the 13 White Belt Principles A unique combination of the 52 Moves Musical variety Today I want to take the first two and share my thoughts on them: A body-mind-emotion-spirit experience and opportunities for self...
read moreMassage Therapy for your Back
If ever there was a sacred treatment, I would have to say it was massage and the art of ‘touch’. The concept of massage therapy goes back thousands of years, although I daresay the art of healing touch is, as a primal instinct, as old as human kind itself. In India and the Orient, touch was practiced to release chi (or energy) that was trapped in parts of the body through some sort of injury or stress, so the body was free to heal itself. I learned massage as part of a Aromatherapy Practitioner’s course I took...
read moreDiagnosing Back Pain – Why We Need A Professional
A backache now and again when you’ve been out mowing the lawn or painting the house is understandable. However, intense or long-term back pain could be a signal that something is wrong with either the structure of your back or your general health. One of the main reasons to consult a professional about your back pain is because it can be caused by things other than the run-of-the-mill suspects like injury, strain, exercise, or excess weight. As an example, your kidneys lie against your back outside of the abdominal cavity. Kidney...
read moreCauses of Back Pain
I am happy to report that my back/hip is doing a little better. I have a pretty good idea of what is causing my discomfort; I’ve been stretching some tight muscles – which is good thing, but while things are loosening up, it feels - temporarily, at least – worse. And when your back hurts it affects everything that you do from that point on. You can put a broken arm in a sling. You can’t put your back in a sling and continue with your day. What Is Causing Your Back Pain? Let’s begin with the simplest and most...
read moreOn Eating Well
It is the mark of an affluent society to have so many choices on what to eat, and the leisure to consider it at length. At times the choices can seem overwhelming and the concept of eating well means different things to different people. It can be taken to mean gourmet food or the slow food revolution; it can mean eating to promote health and the idea of food as medicine. Another way of looking at eating well is making choices that support the environment. Although my vegetarian (mostly vegan) diet is for health reasons I recently...
read moreBack Care Basics
A few weeks ago I pulled a muscle in the front of my thigh and sometimes it flares up when I dance. It almost put me on the benches in one class I taught, with sudden sharp pain and a weakness that left me unable to put weight on my leg for a few beats. I got through the rest of the class by teaching at a gentler level one. I probably aggravated an injury from a few months back that hadn’t fully healed and left me with a weakness, and a certain combination of Nia Technique footwork uncovered it. Even though I felt it in my...
read moreNia 5 Stages
This is a wonderful warm up you can do. It reminds me of the Feldenkrais classes I took a number of years ago (and the work of Moshe Feldendrais is incorporated into Nia Routines as one of the 3 healing arts, the other two being yoga and the Alexander Technique.) The patterning and remembering seems to create a natural body alignment and I daresay the brain really likes it. Give it a try and see how you feel...
read moreWe Make Our Bodies
I was having a conversation with one of my Nia students this week, about the activities we’d done in our pasts – reminiscing about the athletes we were in our younger days. Then I said, “I thought I was done”. I thought I would never become an athlete again. Well, I was wrong – I wasn’t done. What began as a way to ‘stay in shape’ has instead shaped me, changed me, cell by cell. I found a path I love through Nia, motivated myself to keep going by taking teacher training and licensing. Through...
read moreNia in the News
Hi Friends, Here are two short videos on Nia. The first I found on the internet and it is a short feature from CTV British Columbia: CTC British Columbia. The second comes from the Nia Association of Canada. It is done from the point of view of someone who is new to Nia — what their first impression and experience was. It is delightful! The first part is led by Nia trainer Martha Randall who I took my training with. Martha has a Nia practice in Toronto. Hope you enjoy both videos! Nia Canada “New...
read more6 Reasons to Dance in the Sun
It turns out Mom was right when she told me to get my head out of my book and go outside to play in the sun. Most of us associate low Vitamin D levels with depression but there is so much more to the story. When I found out my blood glucose levels were high, my Vitamin D levels were, at the same time ‘insufficient’. That got me curious and I began to do some research. It turns out there is indeed a link between low Vitamin D levels and Diabetes type 2: 61% of people with diabetes are deficient in Vitamin D: Lack of vitamin D...
read moreFeng Shui Soulutions – Your 30 Day Feng Shui Life Makeover
![feng_shui_soulutions[1]](http://www.deborahredfern.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/feng_shui_soulutions1.jpg)
Healing with Feng Shui and Colour
Get Nia Routines
Odyssey of the Heart: Paths to Wholeness through Feng Shui
Dancing with Energy: 9 Steps to Manifesting your Soul’s Desires with Feng Shui
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